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One of the biggest recent surprises in the hotly contested messaging app market was the sudden breakthrough LINE had in Spain over the past six months. Spain has been viewed as a major stronghold of WhatsApp, which has built a towering 90% messaging app market share there. But starting in November 2012, LINE downloads suddenly rocketed and the Japanese challenger now has 11 Million users in Spain alone. WhatsApp has not released its numbers, but it is widely thought to have roughly 20 Million users in Spain. How did LINE come out of nowhere to rock the dominance of the market leader in one of Europe’s largest mobile markets? An interview with the CEO of LINE USA, Jeanie Han, yielded some fascinating insights.

WhatsApp still reigns as the global champion of messaging apps; it has now become the #1 app in more than 140 countries across the world, up from about 90 countries a year ago. Its success is built on austerity: no ads and a tight focus on texting, photo-sharing and file-sharing.

LINE has taken an opposite tack; it offers a much richer mix of features, including free calls. LINE does not shy away from advertising paid stickers and mobile games. This richer mix seems to be resonating with consumers; the social game service of LINE launched in July 2012 and the company has already amassed 100 million players. This success is widely assumed to be the main factor that has persuaded WhatsApp to consider adding game features to its service.

LINE is extremely focused on customization to individual markets, according to Ms. Han. She moved to Spain to live there for two months in order to orchestrate an intense assault on what is probably the strongest market of WhatsApp in Europe. An initial surge of downloads last November led to a press conference in December and a big, one-month TV ad campaign. The tag line of the TV ads was “Life is more fun with LINE” – a subtle dig at how utilitarian WhatsApp can seem in comparison. LINE also integrated its messaging app into one of the top Spanish talk shows.

Colorful Conversation

According to Ms. Han, LINE has seen a 400% increase in sticker usage over the past six months. Flush with success in Spain, LINE is continuing its aggressive push into enemy territories. The app is growing rapidly in Korea and China, and LINE plans to contest these markets despite the utter dominance of KakaoTalk in Korea and WeChat in China.

The Spanish success helped LINE to break out in Mexico, which in turn is now helping it to build momentum in the US market. After the Spanish success of the past six months, grabbing a substantial slice of the US market no longer seems impossible.

Perhaps the most interesting insight from Ms. Han is that the early success and high market share of WhatsApp does not present an insurmountable hurdle for rival services. Quite the opposite: now that consumers are used to a streamlined messaging app, they have started hungering for a richer experience with more features. This clearly was the case in Spain – but will it work in all major markets? Might Spanish and Asian consumers have a special affinity to stickers and games that may not apply to the US market or Northern Europe? And how will the resurgent KakaoTalk with its impressive gaming system complicate LINE’s world conquest?

Just 12 months ago, the messaging app market seemed to be consolidating around WhatsApp, much like the social network market once did around Facebook. But in April 2013, the situation suddenly seems more complex; the Spanish shock could be a sign of glorious turmoil to come in the messaging space.